Negation
Shameless Pervert
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2019
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Won't it be better to link this with the Greed system to extend its range?
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Emptiness
That which encompasses reality
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2024
- Messages
- 74
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- 1,065
No, you don't need a villain pilot! You need a mech that turns a promising underdog into a tragic fallen antagonist! Then, when the mech is inevitably defeated and the pilot switches to an angel mech, you can have a reoccurring plotline of the reused parts of Nosferatu corrupting other mechs!
I036
New
lost star
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2013
- Messages
- 14,516
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- 466,996
Stepping back from the drama slightly. Mars Silver was a heavily developed planet. It existed on the borders of the Friday Coalition, rather far from Hexxer territory. It had not been touched by war, and wouldn't be touched due to various strategic reasons. It therefore had a rather large population unused to real combat. The arenas were the closet things they had to true violence, and they'd lucked into these arenas becoming one of the more popular things in the Coalition. A lot of money therefore ran through the arenas, and there were a lot of considerations built into the local government to encourage things.
The arena that Bolt and Lilly had chosen was close to the middle of the road in almost all respects. They had a decent roster, a decent following, and a fair amount of resources. They did not have a dedicated designer on call. Most arenas didn't. If they needed a custom mech they just hired someone for a one off design. It wasn't a popular job despite the money involved. As Bolt had observed, it was essentially building a custom mech for an actor. Building a custom weapon for an expert was a respectable and eagerly sought after job. Building something specifically for a fake battle was decidedly less prestigious. Designers advanced through sales and through experimentation. Arenas mechs didn't lend themselves to either, thus the jobs were typically taken by designers who just needed money, and they usually did the minimum required.
Bolt and Lilly's offer to work with the arena for VIP treatment was therefore a bit unusual. The arena managers had only taken it at first because Lilly was an expert. Her advice alone was worth the cost of putting two people in the VIP areas. The managers had thrown their newest talent the couple's way because any mistakes or problems could be compensated for quite easily. If Bolt had given Harry a boring or faulty mech it wouldn't have mattered. Harry's career was new enough that they could adjust as needed.
Everyday had ultimately been a surprise to everyone. Its performance in the arena had retroactively made Bolt's episode one of the most popular ones in the series. Everyone wanted to know how the man had done it. Yet despite Bolt blatantly telling them to the face what he did, no one could really tell exactly what he did. It became a tantalizing mystery that sent the local MTA officials into a minor scramble. Bolt had done absolutely nothing wrong. He'd just made every educator's life harder because all the kids wanted to do something like that now.
Then his creation of his newest mech was broadcast. It was a bit of an accident on Bolt's part. The man had not actually intended to construct a mech in front of a camera. He'd just gone to the nearest bay with tools and forgotten completely that they'd studded it with recording equipment due to his previous scene.
Nosferatu was built in a flurry of activity more fitting for the wide screen than a controlled mech construction company. Bolt, in his mania, had constructed the mech with the barest of safety measures, and with the full use off all the technology in the bay. It had been acrobatic, enthralling, and resulted in a mech that loomed so ominously that it could be felt through the TV screen. The mech became famous overnight, and its debut became one of the hottest topics on the planet.
It was actually a tiny bit of a problem for the arena. There was too much anticipation. They had to rewrite the entire script and get a better pilot for the new mech because disappointment could kill an arena faster than even failure. Fortunately their recent success let them recruit someone who could pilot the mech properly. Nosferatu turned out to have a very high performance ceiling after testing, and while anyone could pilot the thing, better pilots could coax a lot more out of the mech. (Bolt considered that very close to a real failure truthfully.)
Thus the plotline had shifted around a lot, and they'd gone with the unleashed monster mech that piloted itself mostly. No one complained that much really. The new mech had enough of a presence that the direction worked pretty well.
"Behold my new weapon!" Sinestra Six proclaimed as she gestured to the massive chained coffin next to her mech. "Forged from the nightmares of humanity, this monster will defeat you all, one, by, one!"
"Not a chance Sinestra!" Allday stepped forward. "I'll stop you, and your weapon!"
That was the cue for the custom made container to shake. The chains fell off one by one, and then the side cracked open. The arena lights flickered, and then flickered red without any input from the special effects team at all. The mech inside the coffin reached out almost casually and pushed the lid off. It fell to the ground with a slam and an elegant figure stepped out.
Everyone held their breath. By now people were familiar with Everyday's appearance and presence. It was a light and valiant breath of vitality. It wasn't obvious, nor was it demanding, but it was there. Like a little light.
Nosferatu's aura was horror and despair, yet the fun type. It was a monster putting on a show. It dragged you down for a scare and laughed in your face. It pulled you in with dread and made you hold your breath. This was a monster it cried, and it demanded you appreciate it while it was on stage.
The mech spread out her wings while everyone watched and then the world went red. The people in the arena could almost taste blood. An iron scent bled through everything for a brief moment before fading away. Nosferatu was having her debut and had taken control of the show.
"What, what is this?!" Sinestra breathed out in real shock before she recovered like the professional actor she was. "Beast, obey me!"
Nosferatu tilted her head. The horns made the gesture dramatic and more exaggerated than it would have been. She made a gesture with two fingers and red flowed up and covered Sinestra's mech.
"Nooooo!" The woman cried out as her mech staggered and dropped with almost exaggerated distress.
Another gesture had the red pull off and back around Nosferatu. The mech flicked a finger almost disdainfully at the puddle of crimson and it splattered around her. Thanks to the tint and the size difference the sand looked remarkably like blood. As Nosferatu spread her wings again half the audience took pictures and made screenshots. This was a mech that screamed vampire. The black and red creation dominated the scene so thoroughly that the special effects managers barely needed to do anything. (They did start the ominous Latin music naturally.)
"I don't know what sort of monster Sinestra has unleashed, but I will be sure to put it down!" Allday shouted out, and Everyday shined in response to his declaration.
The heroic mech charged forward. No special effects were invoked, but the field changed as he did so. For one brief moment the red was pushed back in shining gold. It went beyond mechanics and into story. The clash became a whirl of enthralling gold and red.
Red 'blood' spattered the arena as the battle continued. Nosferatu's style was almost artful. She moved like a dancer and spread red wherever she stepped. She threw it onto Everyday and pulled it off in a shower of almost gore. She carefully cut him with her wings and then shot him with points of her fingers. (The managers were giving the pilot a raise after this, because there was good piloting and then there was art.)
In contrast Everyday just moved forward, yet that fit. His heroic stand demanded nothing less. He strode through it all and shined ever brighter every second.
Yet victory was not going to be his. This was Nosferatu's debut, and the arena people wanted to milk every second of it. This meant that first round went to the monster. They didn't even have to fake it. Allday had chosen the exactly wrong method of fighting Nosferatu by accident. Falling into her rhythm meant that the mech could draw out the fight at her leisure.
The ending was somehow beautifully tragic. Everyday was surrounded in red sand towards the end and Nosferatu clenched a hand cinematically. All the sand flowed up around the mech and covered the entire thing. It dropped down, and it was like the light went out. Some of the audience even cried out.
Then the lights really went out as the scene ended and people got ready for the cleanup. Both of Bolt's mechs seemed incredibly happy with the results, somehow. (They weren't spirits yet, but Bolt was fairly sure that something about the situation was accelerating the process.)
The arena that Bolt and Lilly had chosen was close to the middle of the road in almost all respects. They had a decent roster, a decent following, and a fair amount of resources. They did not have a dedicated designer on call. Most arenas didn't. If they needed a custom mech they just hired someone for a one off design. It wasn't a popular job despite the money involved. As Bolt had observed, it was essentially building a custom mech for an actor. Building a custom weapon for an expert was a respectable and eagerly sought after job. Building something specifically for a fake battle was decidedly less prestigious. Designers advanced through sales and through experimentation. Arenas mechs didn't lend themselves to either, thus the jobs were typically taken by designers who just needed money, and they usually did the minimum required.
Bolt and Lilly's offer to work with the arena for VIP treatment was therefore a bit unusual. The arena managers had only taken it at first because Lilly was an expert. Her advice alone was worth the cost of putting two people in the VIP areas. The managers had thrown their newest talent the couple's way because any mistakes or problems could be compensated for quite easily. If Bolt had given Harry a boring or faulty mech it wouldn't have mattered. Harry's career was new enough that they could adjust as needed.
Everyday had ultimately been a surprise to everyone. Its performance in the arena had retroactively made Bolt's episode one of the most popular ones in the series. Everyone wanted to know how the man had done it. Yet despite Bolt blatantly telling them to the face what he did, no one could really tell exactly what he did. It became a tantalizing mystery that sent the local MTA officials into a minor scramble. Bolt had done absolutely nothing wrong. He'd just made every educator's life harder because all the kids wanted to do something like that now.
Then his creation of his newest mech was broadcast. It was a bit of an accident on Bolt's part. The man had not actually intended to construct a mech in front of a camera. He'd just gone to the nearest bay with tools and forgotten completely that they'd studded it with recording equipment due to his previous scene.
Nosferatu was built in a flurry of activity more fitting for the wide screen than a controlled mech construction company. Bolt, in his mania, had constructed the mech with the barest of safety measures, and with the full use off all the technology in the bay. It had been acrobatic, enthralling, and resulted in a mech that loomed so ominously that it could be felt through the TV screen. The mech became famous overnight, and its debut became one of the hottest topics on the planet.
It was actually a tiny bit of a problem for the arena. There was too much anticipation. They had to rewrite the entire script and get a better pilot for the new mech because disappointment could kill an arena faster than even failure. Fortunately their recent success let them recruit someone who could pilot the mech properly. Nosferatu turned out to have a very high performance ceiling after testing, and while anyone could pilot the thing, better pilots could coax a lot more out of the mech. (Bolt considered that very close to a real failure truthfully.)
Thus the plotline had shifted around a lot, and they'd gone with the unleashed monster mech that piloted itself mostly. No one complained that much really. The new mech had enough of a presence that the direction worked pretty well.
"Behold my new weapon!" Sinestra Six proclaimed as she gestured to the massive chained coffin next to her mech. "Forged from the nightmares of humanity, this monster will defeat you all, one, by, one!"
"Not a chance Sinestra!" Allday stepped forward. "I'll stop you, and your weapon!"
That was the cue for the custom made container to shake. The chains fell off one by one, and then the side cracked open. The arena lights flickered, and then flickered red without any input from the special effects team at all. The mech inside the coffin reached out almost casually and pushed the lid off. It fell to the ground with a slam and an elegant figure stepped out.
Everyone held their breath. By now people were familiar with Everyday's appearance and presence. It was a light and valiant breath of vitality. It wasn't obvious, nor was it demanding, but it was there. Like a little light.
Nosferatu's aura was horror and despair, yet the fun type. It was a monster putting on a show. It dragged you down for a scare and laughed in your face. It pulled you in with dread and made you hold your breath. This was a monster it cried, and it demanded you appreciate it while it was on stage.
The mech spread out her wings while everyone watched and then the world went red. The people in the arena could almost taste blood. An iron scent bled through everything for a brief moment before fading away. Nosferatu was having her debut and had taken control of the show.
"What, what is this?!" Sinestra breathed out in real shock before she recovered like the professional actor she was. "Beast, obey me!"
Nosferatu tilted her head. The horns made the gesture dramatic and more exaggerated than it would have been. She made a gesture with two fingers and red flowed up and covered Sinestra's mech.
"Nooooo!" The woman cried out as her mech staggered and dropped with almost exaggerated distress.
Another gesture had the red pull off and back around Nosferatu. The mech flicked a finger almost disdainfully at the puddle of crimson and it splattered around her. Thanks to the tint and the size difference the sand looked remarkably like blood. As Nosferatu spread her wings again half the audience took pictures and made screenshots. This was a mech that screamed vampire. The black and red creation dominated the scene so thoroughly that the special effects managers barely needed to do anything. (They did start the ominous Latin music naturally.)
"I don't know what sort of monster Sinestra has unleashed, but I will be sure to put it down!" Allday shouted out, and Everyday shined in response to his declaration.
The heroic mech charged forward. No special effects were invoked, but the field changed as he did so. For one brief moment the red was pushed back in shining gold. It went beyond mechanics and into story. The clash became a whirl of enthralling gold and red.
Red 'blood' spattered the arena as the battle continued. Nosferatu's style was almost artful. She moved like a dancer and spread red wherever she stepped. She threw it onto Everyday and pulled it off in a shower of almost gore. She carefully cut him with her wings and then shot him with points of her fingers. (The managers were giving the pilot a raise after this, because there was good piloting and then there was art.)
In contrast Everyday just moved forward, yet that fit. His heroic stand demanded nothing less. He strode through it all and shined ever brighter every second.
Yet victory was not going to be his. This was Nosferatu's debut, and the arena people wanted to milk every second of it. This meant that first round went to the monster. They didn't even have to fake it. Allday had chosen the exactly wrong method of fighting Nosferatu by accident. Falling into her rhythm meant that the mech could draw out the fight at her leisure.
The ending was somehow beautifully tragic. Everyday was surrounded in red sand towards the end and Nosferatu clenched a hand cinematically. All the sand flowed up around the mech and covered the entire thing. It dropped down, and it was like the light went out. Some of the audience even cried out.
Then the lights really went out as the scene ended and people got ready for the cleanup. Both of Bolt's mechs seemed incredibly happy with the results, somehow. (They weren't spirits yet, but Bolt was fairly sure that something about the situation was accelerating the process.)
Tavarokk
Pursuer of perversion
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2015
- Messages
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As an aside, since Morningstar is effectively 2nd rate except for reactor and Dowry can upgrade itself with eaten materials except for reactor, can Bolt use the opportunity (ie stay on a 2nd rate planet rich in mech-related businesses, already with access to construction facilities) to refit both to full 2nd rate?
Simonbob
Really? You don't say.
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2014
- Messages
- 1,579
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- 20,015
Possible, but....
It's both expensive, and very hard to maintain, without a lot of stuff that their world doesn't have, and couldn't protect if it did. Bad idea.
foo-jin
Most polished sword in the trichilliocosm.
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2024
- Messages
- 926
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3rd rate Star Mech Designer Bolt here we come!